Cheap laptop connected to HD monitor at 2560x1600?
 

I have a Gateway 30" HD monitor that has max resolution of 2560 x 1600. It's 1600i extreme whatever that is and has hd input. I was looking at laptops the other day and found asus brand new for $400, comes with 3GB ram, 2.4 GHZ cpu, ATI radeon 4250, hdmi output. Forgot the other specs. I googled it and the 4250 has max resolution of 2560 x 1600 which is what i need. Computer comes with windows 7.

My question is, will the laptop run really slow with the vid card working with such a large resolution? Not using laptop for gaming, but will use it for photoshop. Think it's worth paying more or will a basic laptop do the trick with this monitor?

depends ... does the vid card share RAM with the system, or does it have on-board RAM, and if the later is the case, how much??

Nowdays 1024MB of RAM on the card is pretty much the standard to judge by ...

I would think even with 512MB of DDR3 on the card, your system should not faulter ... at least not being caused by the video card.

im not good at math, but thats a lot of pixels to move from your hard drive to your monitor. the laptop would need a good bus and large video memory.

i think there's no chance at all of running dual monitors. even if u turn off the laptop display your system is gonna run really hot.

why not get a mac mini? its designed for that sort of display and its portable. the FAA mounts them on the back of those huge ad display boards in the airports. networked ad delivery :)

Could just go with a desktop for around the same price point.

Thanks so far,

MAC's not an option, I am a PC guy

Was going to use the laptop like a desktop pretty much, just keep the lid shut and connect it to my monitor, mouse, and keyboard, but then when i need to take it to starbucks or whatnot, everything is there and i do not lose productivity time transferring files.

I guess I can look for a laptop with video card with onboard ram?